Boxer Vijender’s name crops up during grilling of drug smugglers

Olympic medal winning boxer Vijender Singh’s name cropped up during a police investigation of a drug bust in Haryana. The police recovered 26 kg of heroin worth an estimated Rs 130 crore from an NRI’s house in Mohali district. The police said they are examining whether Vijender has any connection with the drug ring. Anoop Singh Kahlon, one of the six arrested in the case, told police that Vijender had visited him. A car parked near Kahlon’s house was found to belong to Vijender’s wife. Vijender Singh, however, has dismissed reports of any involvement. The police chief of Fatehgarh Sahib district, Hardyal Singh Mann, told reporters that the contraband seizure followed a tipoff. Six persons, including two NRIs, have been arrested. Police suspect they may have stumbled onto an international drug smuggling network.

Four of the six arrested are Anoop Singh Kahlon, the alleged kingpin of the smuggling network, Manpreet Singh, Kulwinder Singh and Gabbar Singh.

While Kahlon was arrested along with Kulwinder Singh alias Rocky, Manpreet was nabbed with Gabbar Singh. Two of Rockey’s relatives, Mandeep and Kuldeep, were also picked up, even as the police seized certain chemicals used for preparing the drugs.

The police said Kahlon, who had been living in Canada since 1995, ran an international smuggling network in North America and Europe.

They seized 540 gram of heroin and Rs. 8.94 lakh while searching his car. They recovered 16 kg of heroin was recovered from a flat owned by him in Zikarpur town of Mohali district and another 10 kg from a car parked outside.

Fatehgarh Sahib police said Kahlon, during questioning, claimed that Vijender, along with boxer Ram Singh, had visited him. The Fatehgarh Sahib police have since detained Ram Singh, who was training at the NIS at Patiala.

Ram Singh, who is said to have been seen driving the car, is also a police officer.

Mr. Mann said no immediate linkage could be established, but based on Kahlon’s claims and interrogation of Ram Singh, they could summon Vijender for questioning.

The police refuted reports in a section of the media that Ram Singh was arrested. The officer, who had trained with Vijender, appeared for questioning as soon as he was summoned, they said.